Mood Board Inspiration & Sustainability

This week I went to a 2 day business development seminar run by The Swedish Wealth Institute. It was lots of inspirational speakers talking about their journeys and also about strategies to move forward in business. I loved it. I didn't think I would... I thought it would be more cringey and full of hot air...but it was actually very empowering and helpful.

One of the things we had to do beforehand, to prepare, was to make a moodboard. Now I'm no stranger to the moodboard creation, having made one for most of my cushion collections- But this one was going to be very different, because it wasn't just about colours and themes and form...no, I was about my hopes and dreams for the future. About what I think is important and where I want to take my business.

So this is my moodboard...

Yes, it is a triptych... I'm nothing if not ambitious!
Thank goodness my mum is a total magazine hoarder, so I had lots of raw materials to work with...

Moving into 2018 is going to be all about the environment for me. It's going to be about using organic fabrics, campaigning harder for reducing plastic pollution. Making sure everything I do stands for something positive, and in alignment with my principles.

On a personal level, it's about eating healthier, taking time to see my friends and keeping my positive energy up.





The dog represents a sense of humour. I am also a massive dog lover but that is not what this picture represents...

It is about keeping a balance of light hearted, upbeat positivity alongside the serious work that needs to be done to reduce global climate change, reduce plastic pollution and all the other challenges that we face together as a planet.

I'm halfway through doing a course on sustainability, and you can probably tell right?
I'm all about the saving the planet right now...
I'm learning so much and though it is quite distressing, it is also amazing to see what we are capable of both in devastation but also in innovation and compassion.

The thing I realise most deeply is simply that we in the developed world have all had it a bit easy and have become obsessed with comfort and convenience. We want what we want, and we want it now.... And we want it cheap. Well, that is not a recipe for sustainability. It means that if we want to begin to undo the damage we have done, then we all have to make small compromises. Things like buying the slightly more expensive biodegradable dog poo bags instead of the cheap plastic ones (that accidentally fall off your lead and get left in nature to do all those bad things) Or stopping using single use plastic party plates, straws and cutlery. How about just using your own stuff and washing it? Yes a bit less convenient, but that's the point. Ok I totally realise that I'm up on my soapbox right now giving a bit of a lecture...I'll try to get off it now, come back down here and be normal...sorry about that. I just get a bit hot under the collar. This shit is real, and we all need to help fix things. Ok, that's the end of the rant...for today ;-)

So, another funny thing that we had to prepare for the event, was to do this epic personality test to 'find your defining qualities'. They are only positive qualities, so you can't get any bad news ;-) I had to answer about 120 questions and then this answer spewed out..

I think it is pretty much bang on and if you fancy doing it too then click this link I'm not advocating this company or anything, I just did their free questionaire and I think the point of it is that if you know what your defining qualities are then you can do more of that stuff to be happy and play to your strengths, kinda thing.  I do know that I feel nourished by looking at beauty. It can be a museum or it can be a forest, but either way, I come out of the experience feeling a bit like I've had a big yummy meal. A sort of fullness that is hard to explain unless you've felt it too.

And coming in at number 2 is 'creativity' well, that's obvious, just look at my job!

Anyway, that's it from me, I'm off to make a delivery to Folkhemmet in Barkarby, outside Stockholm and then take a nice dog walk in the forest...

Have a wonderful weekend...

The World's First Recycling Mall, Up-cycling & the Circular Economy

Recently I saw a post on Facebook about a place called Återbruksgallerian in Eskilstuna (Sweden). Apparently it is the first and only recycled and up-cycled mall in the world.

 Well, that piqued my interest no end. So I decided to visit it and see what it was like for myself...

Anyone that knows me also knows that I'm passionate about the environment and a huge advocate of the circular economy, that is to say, not digging up resources, making stuff, using it then throwing it away. I think it is better to reuse things that already exist, fix them or turn them into other things, than to to just throw all that great stuff away...I mean what a waste!

Firstly I am so impressed by the idea of this place and by the vision of the people that made it happen. But the place itself, well, there are many great things about it but also areas to improve.

The cafe was excellent, cheap and really great food, definitely a recommend...

I was also really impressed with the florists shop. It had a great combination of old plant pots and second hand garden stuff, along with gorgeous flowers and all in a really well decorated space. You didn't feel like you were in a second hand shop at all...

 

The one thing the place lacked was a sense of creative potential. The up-cycled stuff were just old bits of furniture given a fresh lick of white or grey paint. There wasn't an aspirational feeling, not inspiring in the sense that the stuff looks amazing. Only inspiring in the sense that this stuff is getting a fresh lease of life, which is no small thing of course, but I wanted more...

To give you an idea of what I mean by creative potential and what is possible, just check out these amazing up cycled works of art and craft...

plates from Angioletti Designs

But not just pretty china, what about crappy broken china? No problem! Do this...

pic from www.cooperhewitt.org

And the many things you can do with old pallets...

or old oars...

And if you like the industrial look...what about a corrugated iron headboard?

And I haven't even started on all the cool things you can do with old chests of drawers and cupboards....

Want something fun for the kids? How about a dolls house? no problem..

made by Larotska

Or a mini kitchen?

The thing is that most of these projects require a bit of expertise in the crafty department, and that is what I feel was missing at Återbruksgallerian...

I think people need to be inspired by up-cycling, to see the possibilities and actually see things that are desirable. I'm not just talking about 'doing the right thing' by buying a second hand pair of skates instead of going and buying a new pair...I'm talking about newly made things from discarded items. Up-cycled things have more soul and individuality than mass produced store bought stuff and I want to see 'designer up-cycled' stuff alongside the second hand clothing and furniture...

You should go there if you can. Eat some of the great cakes in the cafe then wander around, pick up some bargains and think of our future..

Jewels, Shopping, Vegan Leather, & Charity

This week has been a very frustrating one on a personal level. I have a problem with my back which has prevented me from running or training for weeks now... plus I've been having technical issues with my internet connectivity since upgrading my OS, you know the kind of thing, normal irritating problems, small, sporadic... but gives a low level background irritation to everything.

So it is very nice when I see positive things and it's not in my nature to dwell on the rubbish that life throws our way, so I wanted to talk about some really great things going on...


Firstly I think everyone should know about a company based in America called Modern Meadow. They are a bio tech firm who have discovered a process to make real organic leather without the use of animals, that is to say, any kind of leather, crocodile, ostrich, cow, whatever, by tweaking some gene soup and putting the resulting gloop through a drying and tanning process without killing a single animal. This is proper futuristic amazing stuff!

They have just opened their exhibition at MoMa and as an animal rights advocate who is partial to a nice leather jacket, this development excites me no end!!




My mate Janice Issitt takes a very nice picture and she recently did a shoot for LuLu's Pearls on Nordic Design Hub. What makes this special is that all sales of this necklace go to Breast Cancer Research. Yep, 100% of the money goes to a very worthy charity. The necklace is called 'Hope is my Anchor' it's gorgeous and every one sold contributes towards fighting the big 'C'

If you are in the shopping mood then I better let you know that this weekend my 33% sale will be finishing, so if you have had a eye on something...it might be in the sale, so check it out. Use discount code TSHIRT33 when you check out to get the discount.

T-shirt sale,Tooth Removal & Saving the Planet

I've been a bit low key this week. The week started off with having a tooth removed, a difficult extraction, a solid hour of brain rattling drilling, sawing, picking, levering, wrenching and yanking. Unpleasant, but thank the lord for local anaesthetic!! Anyway, the following day I started having really weird dizziness and disorientation and got a bit worried. After doing some snuffling around on the internet I discovered I had Vertigo. Apparently this sometimes happens after tooth extractions or root canals. So for the rest of this week I have been taking it easy, driving as little as possible and doing a whole heap of sitting on the sofa. Whilst sitting on the sofa I saw this amazing thing on Facebook and I just need to share it with you because it illustrates perfectly why despite all the bullshit and pollution out there, I still have hope for us and the planet....

Product design student Ari Jonsson from Iceland has come up with a way to make completely biodegradable 'plastic' bottles from red algae powder. The bottles keep their shape whilst full but once empty, they begin to decompose.

You can read more about it here

That also got me thinking about all the plastic I use. I already use fabric shopper bags for my shopping and have recently bought biodegradable doggie poo bags, but I think I'm going to go through all the plastic things I use in every day life, find environmentally friendly alternatives and post a list of links on how to get them up here in a couple of weeks time, incase you feel inspired to also become part of the solution...


Back to work now.... I'm going to be doing a big end of season sale on our T-shirts and tunics next week, all week from Monday October 9th through to Sunday 15th There will be 33% off the T-shirts and Tunic if you use code TSHIRT33 when you check out.

 Just click our Sale page and take advantage of these fantastic bargains!

Have a wonderful weekend you lovely peeps!